Hero’s grandson amazed by Jamie’s portrayal

The grandson of the man Jamie Dornan portrays in new movie The Siege of Jadotville has heaped praise on the actor for nailing the character.

Conor Quinlan, who appears alongside the Fifty Shades of Grey star in the war movie about an unsung Irishman, insists he could not have portrayed his grandfather, hero Pat Quinlan, better than Jamie.

“It was pretty amazing,” he tells Independent.ie. “He (grandfather) died when I was six, but I still have vague memories and Jamie definitely captured the quiet authority he had. The essence of a strong, silent and wise man was definitely there.

“It was surreal for the first week or two seeing him portray him. My family were over the moon watching his performance. It was actually an incredible experience, from day one on set to the movie getting its premiere alongside the veterans it is celebrating.”

The movie is based on the true story of Commander Pat Quinlan, who led Irish troops to safety after they were attacked by thousands of French and Belgian mercenaries hired by Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe in the Congo in 1961.

Conor portrays another war hero, P.J. Joyce, in the movie, and reveals he was thrilled to meet his character’s family.

“That was brilliant,” he adds. “They didn’t want to shoot me, which means I must have done a good job. It was an amazing experience to get to meet these people who were part of something that epic.”

The Siege of Jadotville opened in Ireland and the UK last week (ends23Sep16). It will be released worldwide on Netflix on 7 October (16).

Jamie recently told the same outlet he was annoyed that his character’s heroism wasn’t recognised when he was alive.

“You can’t believe that this happened and we don’t know about it,” Jamie told Independent.ie. “Not only did they (troops) not get the recognition they deserved, they got the opposite of that. They got put down for their efforts. There’s this whole derogatory term, the Jadotville Jacks, that was used in the army going forward if someone showed an act of cowardice. Even now it angers me so much when you know what these guys really went through.”